Mourning Dove

        Fleur-Ange alerted me to the Mourning Doves outside our breakfast window this morning. We both took several photos. This was the best of mine. Nice bit of sunshine on fresh snow as the background and lighting!

Photo or not to Photo

        I have had a couple of requests, from Facebook people, to put some of my photos on one site where they do not disappear like they do on Facebook. So far I am just thinking about it and one possibility would be to do a new blog with just photos or maybe with photos and information about the photos.

        Meanwhile, here are a  couple of photos that I have had on FB during the last few days.

        Comments would be welcome.

Iced Asparagus

From a wild asparagus that I did not eat in the spring

nor

cut down in the fall.

Willows and a Cottonwood

Light catching trees in our east meadow

not too many minutes after sunrise.

Disk Florets

 Found on a New England Aster

still blooming on January 2, 2015.

Male Downy Woodpecker

On our bird feeder just outside our kitchen window.

December 19 Blooms

          So, I found all of these flowers blooming on Friday, December 19 in the Burlington/Hamilton area on Royal Botanical Garden's properties.  There might have been more but the gardening staff have been busy digging up the old flower bed of summer so some of the "weeds" that I have been watching have been dug up and turned under. Sigh. Anyway all but one of the flowers are "wild" as in growing on their own without being planted or cultivated. Five of them were in old flower beds as weeds. The dandelion was growing and blooming in one of the lawns. There were lots of dandelions seedheads about the area also. The two asters and the yarrow were growing besides the Hamilton Waterfront Trail on the Princess Point side of the road. I am never sure exactly where the border of the RBG is in that area but they are close enough for me to count as basically RBG finds in any case.

        I took some enjoyment is setting up the design for the display photo above using Photoshop. I discovered a new action in Photoshop that allows one to make lines to exact angles that made the process a lot easier. It appears that there is always something new to learn in Photoshop.

        I made up the angles first so that there could be 9 equal parts of the large circle, then figured out by experimenting what size the circles needed to be to fit into the parts. After making and placing all the smaller circles I put the larger one into the centre and then just cut and pasted from the flower photos into the template before erasing the template. It kept me off the streets and out of the yard for a couple of hours and was a good way to "rest" as my cold virus does not want me out right now anyway.

Fall Wild Flower Walk

        Every year since 1981 I have led a wild flower walk during the weekend closest to the end of October and beginning of November. For the last 12 years or so Fleur-Ange has co-lead with me. Most, but not all, of the walks have been on the Hamilton Waterfront trail for the last few years. There seem to be more flowers there later in the season. I am attributing the streetlights by the trail as well as the location right next to the harbour for the later blooms. In any case there are always more flowers blooming there.

        This year, on Saturday, November 1st, we found 52 wild flowers in bloom. Following is the list and two photos:

Alyssum, Hoary *

Aster, Frost

Aster, Heath

Aster, New England

Aster, Panicled

Beggar Tick Photo by Fleur-Ange

Beggar Tick, Tall

Bindweed, Hedge

Black-Eyed Susan

Bugleweed, Rough

Butter-And-Eggs*

Catnip *

Chickweed, Mouse-Ear *

Chicory *

Cinquefoil, Rough

Clover, White *

Clover, White Sweet *

Crown-vetch,       Purple  *

Dandelion, Red-Seeded *

Dogwood, Red-Osier (S)

Evening Primrose, Common

Flax, Common *

Fleabane, Daisy

Galinsoga *

Galinsoga, Small-Flowered

Goldenrod, Lance-Leaved

Goldenrod, Tall

Groundsel, Sticky * (S.Ragwort)

Heal-All

Knotgrass, Common *

Knotweed, Japanese *

Lady's Thumb *

Medick, Black *

Mint, Wild

Moth Mullein Photo by Dean

Mustard, Black *

Nightshade, Eastern Black

Queen Anne's Lace *

Ragweed, Common

Ragweed, Perennial (Western)

Saint Johnswort, Common *

Smartweed,   Water

Snowberry

Sow Thistle, Common *

Sow Thistle, Field *

Thistle, Bull *

Thistle, Canada *

Touch-Me-Not, Spotted

Vetch, Cow * (Tufted V.)

Wallrocket *

Yarrow, Common * My apologies for the errors in the list. Blogger is doing strange things to my format for some reason.

Another Half Marathon

        I have run Hamilton’s Road-2-Hope race all eight times that it has been run. Seven times I ran the half marathon and one time, when I was 66, I ran the full marathon. During the past four half marathons I have been just a bit faster each time with today’s being the best of the last four. Before that I had one very slow run and two faster runs. Last year I actually place in the top three with a second place finish. Even though I ran faster this year, I came in forth in my age group out of 5. I was a bit disappointed but then I did come in before 236 other runners of whom almost all were younger than I and then there are all those who are not running or did not even make it to my age so I cannot feel too bad. 

Thanks to Fleur-Ange for the photo!

        Oh, today’s time was 2:22:24 compared to my slowest half marathon 2:37:54 back when I was 66. My fastest half was when I was 48 years old and it was 1:43:56. I am hoping to keep running for a few more years. I signed up for the Hamilton Bay Race next March. It is 30 km with a few more ups and downs compared to what I ran today. I shall not be trying for a faster time in that race but just to finish as it has always been a challenge for me and resulted in a long 6 year recess from running years ago due to an injury. I will be pleased to just finish!

Thanks to Donna Quick for this photo!